Divergence
by JMills
Summary: Irvine was wrong. Choices do impact the world. Small choices can change the future.
1. for Sorrow

Divergence

WARNINGS

1) I don't own the Final Fantasy characters, series, or plotline.

2) Rated T for language and violence.

3) Let's place the story about a year after Ultimicia.

A/N: I wrote this a very long time ago and just stumbled upon it. It was a bit cringe-worthy at points, but I think I'm going to edit and try to finish. I feel there's a good plot line I can work with. Not sure if anyone reads FFVIII fiction anymore, hahaha.

**One for Sorrow**

"As you well know," Quistis Trepe sighed, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "The SeeD exam will take place tomorrow morning." She paused as a paper airplane drifted from the back of the class and landed softly on an empty desk in the second row. The three students in the back of her class were asleep and she counted four people playing computer games. It was the end of the year and she could hardly blame them. Quistis still planned to teach summer semester, but little to few students stayed the summer. Only those who were failing or lacking much of a home life stayed. Garden was originally founded as an orphanage, and many still took advantage of it for those accomodations.

"We'll be departing Garden at approximately 0700," she continued after readjusting her glasses and clearing her throat. Thankfully, the bell sounded, signalling the end of her second to last class of the semester. "This is the last chance for some of you," she called as her students filed past her. "Be prepared."

(0000000000)

"I failed the last four kids." Zell grumbled, looking down at his clipboard. "Just to let you know – it's not going to be easy" The cool ocean breeze was more and more refreshing each time he returned to Garden from the Fire Cavern. Covered in ash and sporting several small burns, the blonde brought his glance to the next student. "Gouldren, Ethan?"

"Yeah."

"Junctioned?"

"Yup."

"Right. Let's roll." Zell nodded his head towards the Fire Cavern. The blonde was underwhelmed with this next cadet, but he'd seen a lot worse today. He had short brown hair and was about 5'7. Zell was a bit shorter, but Ethan's toned, tan arms were nothing compared to Zell's physique. He guessed Ethan was maybe 15 or 16. Unlike Zell, his hair was kept shaved and short brown. "You sure you're up for this? You brought Phoenix Downs? Potions?"

"I'm ready, Sir" Ethan retorted, keeping his head on the path. Zell was a bit intimidating. Of course, he heard the stories of Garden defeating Ultimicia, and Zell was legend. He tried not to shrug it off and not let the pressure get to him. Ethan was nervous enough as it is.

"Not a whole lot of good glove fighters this year," Zell noted, more to himself than Ethan. He noticed the gloves on Ethan's hands. They were not even in the same league as Zell's Ehrgeiz. Ethan's gloves gave a smell of leather and studs protruded from the knuckles. In contract, the Ehrgeiz were art – bright red and wrapped with dragon skin, reinforced with adamantine, and shaprened with a fury fragment. Zell tried not to be too judgy, but Ethan's gloves were cheap, even for a kid of his age.

Ethan didn't know how to respond, so a brief silence stood over the two. This wasn't Ethan's first rodeo at the Fire Cavern. Two years ago, he got sick on the walk to the Fire Cavern and was told to go home. His sickness was a consistent problem throughout his life. Last year was better, but two red bats and a buel were enough to take him out. He still had yet to make it to Ifrit's Cavern. This year was going to be different though. Ethan knew he was going to get to the SeeD test. He needed too. Like hell he was going home this summer.

"…if you knew this or not, but you can draw ice from glacial eyes around here," Zell continued, as they marched up a sloping hill. The wind brushed through Zell's singed hair when they reached the top. "They're rare, but if you can corner one, it really helps you for the little fire monkey up here." Zell flashed a smile, laughing to himself.

It took Ethan a moment to realize that Zell was talking to him. He had so many thoughts running through his head. When was it appropriate to use magic? How much time should he give himself? Would Zell protect him from getting too hurt? He didn't even think about glacial eyes and ice, so he stumbled in his response and looked at the ground. Ethan started feeling sick again…

"Hey, you'll be fine, dude…" Zell smirked, sympathetically. He could see the nervouseness in the kid's eyes and the color drain out of his face. "Nobody ever died doing this. Worst case scenario, you can try again next year."

Ethan nodded and looked down. The grass turned to sand as they approached the fire cavern. Heat radiated from the fire cavern, mixing with the cool ocean air and causing the air to feel heavy and humid. Ethan wiped his forehead with the bottom of his t-shirt – half from nevousness and half from the new heat. He wiped his hand on his gym shorts and steadied himself.

"How many minutes do you want?"

(0000000000)

"What time is it Irvy?" Selphie asked between sips of coffee. The Cafeteria was slowly thinning out and the night lights were coming on.

"'Bout 2000," the cowboy responded, looking down at his watch. His cowboy hat tipped clumsily over his eyes. "Fancy we should go up?"

"I fancy we should," Selphie smiled, grabbing Irvine by the hand. The two made their way through the deserted corridors to the elevator. The low hum of the Garden soothed the air as the elevator sounded; signifying it's arrival. "Any good cadets today?" Selphie asked, skipping into the lift.

"A few," Irvine shrugged as the elevator lurched up. "How about you?"

"I have FOUR cadets," Selphie whined. "Nobody wants to learn the Nunchaku anymore."

"Are any of them any good?"

"They're all brilllllllliant!" the brunette beamed, doing a skip.

"Wow, I wish I could say the same," the cowboy laughed.

"I'm sure they are!" Selphie encouraged. "You just need to get to know them better!"

"Not true," Irvine said smoothly. He wrapped his arm around Selphie's waist and smiled. "It's just that everyone who's too scared to fight with a sword wants a gun." The elevator dinged again and they stepped out in front of Squall's office.

"It'll be ok! I'm sure you'll find at least a few diamonds!"

Irvine laughed. Selfie was always the optimist and knew just want to say to make him feel better. In fact, Irvine had seen some promising students today. Russell Wilson looked promising. Akira Rennodone tore apart Ifrit with 10 shots and hardly a scratch. With a Bismark gun though, it was pretty easy. Although with that accuracy…

"Maybe you're right… The cowboy laughed, opening the door for Selphie to Squall's office. Inside, they joined Squall, Rinoa, Quistis, and Xu.

"Everyone here?" Xu questioned, looking around the room.

"Zell…" Squall muttered, not looking up from the floor.

As if called for, the blonde burst through the doors. Still covered in ash and smelling profusely of sweat, Zell took a seat adjacent to Rinoa. "Sorry. A cadet beat Ifrit, but barely. Didn't bring anything ice related…"

Rinoa and Irvine giggled, but Squall kept his head down.

A brief silence flooded the room as the lion gathered his thoughts. "The SeeD mission has been decided for tomorrow," Squall muttered, getting straight to the point. "At 0700 tomorrow, we will be departing to Balamb. From there, we will receive a ship transport to Centra."

"Centra?" Zell interrupted.

Squall just glared at him.

(0000000000)

Ethan collapsed on his bed. He didn't throw up. He beat Ifrit. He did it.

"How did it go?" Jostin asked, not looking up from his computer.

The brunette threw his shirt and gym shorts on the floor and lied in his own sweat, pushing the covers off the bed. He was usually more modest, but he was exhausted, and his roommate, Jostin, usually didn't wear much clothes either. Ethan closed his eyes, rolled over on his side, and exhaled slowly.

"You there, bud?" Jostin interjected. He also was shirtless, althought this was normal when he played videogames. Ethan was just glad he didn't catch him masturbating this time. That occurred on at least four occasions this semester and was not helping his stomach issues.

"Yeah, but that was after 27 minutes. I only asked for 20. Thing damn near killed me too. I didn't bring any ice."

"Well if you killed it, it couldn't have gone that bad."

"Just let me sleep…"

"Too much sleep…makes me weak!" Jostin chortled to himself. "You get it? It's Diablo! Remember from history?" He continued laughing as he scratched himself below his chest.

Ethan didn't respond. He was already asleep.

(0000000000)


	2. for Joy

Diverged

WARNINGS

1) I don't own the Final Fantasy characters, series, or plotline. I guess I own this, but if you steal it, I probably won't do anything about it.

2) Rated PG-13 for language and violence.

3) Let's place the story about a year after Ultimicia.

**Two for Joy**

It had been a long year for Seifer Almasy. So close, but he could never get what he truly wanted. They dangled it in front of his face and expected him to be content. They were doing him a _favor_ and hoped he would be happy. He'd rather be dead. Yes, it had been a long year for Seifer Almasy.

Sure, he had Raijin and Fujin, and fishing was fun. But he was going on a year living here, and honestly, Balamb was boring. Everyone in town knew he was there, but he still had to remain incognito. The first few days he wore the trench coat, his reception was less than pleasant. They didn't kill him though, which is more than could be said about other towns. So in Balamb he remained; biding his time.

Then they came. Ugh…them. Rain bounced off his dark hoody as he brooded in the shadows near the dock. The sun began to rise, but it couldn't be seen much behind the dark clouds. It would be more fair to say the sky lightened a bit. Seifer wiped the rain from the tips of his blonde hair and stared intently. Group after group of cadets passed him and filed onto the reserved boats. They completely ignored his existence, or perhaps they didn't see him. They were all children scared shitless. They weren't the Sorceress's knight and they could never dream of it. Skulking, Seifer remained in the shadows.

Perhaps the cadets didn't see him, but he knew his old friends recognized him as they passed. He saw the fire in Chicken Wuss's eyes. Selphie looked away intentionally. They noticed him, but the wounds were apparently still too deep. But maybe not to Squall. The brunette looked directly into his eyes as he passed. Through the stoic mask, Seifer thought he saw a little compassion, but that was stretching it. Regardless, nobody said anything to Seifer.

"730 HOURS," Fujin shouted, sneaking up on Seifer.

The blonde jumped a bit but quickly regained his composure. "Can't sleep," he muttered. Through the down pouring rain, the two watched the last SeeD boat leave the dock.

(0000000000)

Of course Zell saw Almasy. How could he miss him? After fighting the Sorceress's knight on several occasions, nobody could forget him. It stung Zell to see him today though. Luckily, Ma claimed she had yet to meet him. Zell assumed he'd been creeping around like a rat, which is exactly the way he wanted it. Seifer still hadn't repaid his sin to society, as far as Zell was concerned. He wasn't ever sure if the wounds would heal, but seeing him today was unnerving to say the least.

The rain pattered softly on the deck of the boat as they traveled south. Zell hated the constant up and down motions of the boat, but it was never seasickness. Today was especially bad however and Zell did a lot of sitting. The smaller the boat, the worse it was though. Luckily, there were quite a few glove fighters this year, so they were given one of the medium sized vessels. After the passage of Fisherman's Horizon, the rain stopped completely. Zell descended to the cabin below the ship to address his cadets.

"Morning Cadets," Zell called as he reached the last step. He landed awkwardly on the edge of it and half fell before regaining his balance on the floor.

"Good morning Sir," his students responded, unfazed.

"Lights," the blonde yelled, after regaining his composure. The entire room went dark and a monitor lit up the right wall. Zell pulled out a laser and a picture of a diamond shaped structure appeared on the screen. "This is Centra Ruins," Zell began, pacing about the room. "It has been noticed that a rebel GF is causing an abnormal amount of damage to its home and surrounding areas." Our objective will be to subdue the GF and bring it back to Garden for research and possible junctioning.

Zell clicked through a few more pictures of the structure and then called for the lights again. "You will be broken into groups of three. There will be one rifle shooter and one swordsman guaranteed, so there's no calls of disadvantage. Good luck, you'll need it." With that, the blonde went back up to the deck. He didn't trip this time.

(0000000000)

"Ethan Gouldren," he introduced himself, as he tightened his gloves. The group had finally made it past the sandy beach and walked along Centra's dry, desert.

"Ash Bender," said a gun slinging woman. She was about 5'4 but somewhat heavy. This wasn't helping them reach the destination quickly.

"Ty Deiter," muttered a dark haired man with a generic broadsword. Previously, Ty had misplaced his sword for twenty minutes, so their group was a good deal behind the other teams.

_"This is the worst team I've ever been a part of," _Ethan thought as they trudged forward. With his failure to finish at the Fire Cavern on time, this year was looking grim. Still, this was further than he ever got before. As the heat beat down in the desert, Ethan wiped his brow and looked up at the diamond structure far in the distance. He pulled a small map out of his pocket and motioned the rest of the team over. "Alright, basically we got to go northeast. There should be a bridge in about a mile to take us to the structure. The GF could be anywhere, but since we're behind, it's probably already engaged with another team."

The trio walked silently across the plain for almost a half hour. The sharp, dry air stung their skin and the dull sound of the ocean had vanished completely. All that was left was arid ground. They saw a few red bats, a buel, and even an Abyss Worm, however, they were able to avoid all of them without detection. Finally, the structure loomed before them. Small flashes appeared all over the structure and it smelled of gunpowder. They were late.

"My Blue Heaven," Ty read as they entered the facility. A queer rattle quickly caught all of their attention. Their luck had run out. Standing on the bridge, a three-foot monster moved his lantern like a pendulum. It produced a short knife from its sleeve and began waddling towards the trio. Again, it's strange call sounded gutteral as it approached.

"Oh fuck me," Ethan lamented, taking a step back. "It's a tonberry."

Ty unsheathed his sword. "Don't they have a ton of life?"

"It's…it's not going to be easy," Ash stuttered. Her legs wobbled slightly as she drew her gun. "Stay back, I have a shot." Fire exploded from Ash's gun, startling Ethan a bit, but he was glad to at least have someone attack from a distance. The shot was off, flying at least six feet above the Tonberry's head. The second shot kicked up dirt three feet in front of them. Finally, the third shot connected, shattering the tonberry's lantern. Fire spread quickly across the Tonberry's cloth hood, but the beast quickly put it out with an ice spell.

Ethan saw Ash's hands shaking, as she tried to reload her rifle. Bullets tumbled from her fingers, as the tonberry continued to approach. "Shit…" Ash apologized. Ethan was concerned she would start crying soon. Sweat began running down his back. The tonberry was still walking towards them – still calling out to them, still pointing his knife in their direction.

Seeing Ash's shortcomings, Ty took the initiative and charged. Despite his forgetfulness, Ethan had to give him credit for his bravery. He was not even considering charging the thing. Twirling his sword as he ran, Ty connected with the Tonberry with a downward slice. Ethan expected it to cut deeply into the Tonberry, but the sword bounced back after slicing through the Tonberry's cloth and threw Ty off balance. The Tonberry pivoted quickly and poked Ty's hamstring with it's knife. "AHHHH!" Ty screeched, crumbling to the ground. "IT'S SHARP!"

Now Ethan was frightened. As if in slow motion, he saw the knife go all the way through Ty's leg until he could see it's silver gleam through the other side. Ribbons of blood spiraled down Ty's leg and his sword clanged away uselessly three feet away. A wave of coldness washed over Ethan. What should he do first? A potion for Ty? Attack on his own? He certainly didn't want a knife through the leg…

Before he could make a decision he made eye contact with the tonberry. As if chosen as his next target, the tonberry turned and began making it's way towards Ethan. It took three small steps before raising it's broken lantern and calling out again.

Ethan didn't notice any change at first, other than a change in the weight of the air. Everything felt a bit heavier than before, almost humid. This feeling escalated quickly though, almost to a crushing point. Ethan felt his muscles constrict tightly and a strong wave of pain shot through every nerve. The sky appeared to darken a bit, but Ethan wasn't sure if it really did or if it was simply him clenching his eyes. Wincing, Ethan took a knee as the pain pulsed through him. _"How many of them did you kill?" _a voice demanded in the back of his head. _"How many did you kill?! The Grudge will just be worse! You're everyone's grudge!"_

Ethan felt the light sliding out of his eyes and recognized the symptoms of losing consciousness. What was he doing here? He was nowhere near prepared for this. How was he supposed to defeat a GF if he couldn't tackle a simple tonberry? Ethan's breaths became shorter as the pressure worsened. Just like drifting off to sleep….

A gunshot brought Ethan back to consciousness. The shot dissipated the pressure and broke him from the Tonberry's spell. Still short on breath and incredibly weakened, Ethan rolled his eyes up to the sky. He fell on his back and felt the warm sand sift through his fingers. Above him, Ash was on the calvary. Taking shot after shot at the tonberry. From his viewpoint, Ethan wasn't sure if any of them were connecting. Ash still looked frightened and waved her rifle in a way as if she was shooting more warning shots to scare the Tonberry away than actually trying to kill it. He could still hear Ty moaning on the ground to his left. It sounded like he was crying.

Painfully, Ethan rolled onto his side and tried to steady himself for more. He was still having difficulty getting enough air and his chest felt like a giant charlie horse. He didn't know his muscles could constrict like that. His heart pounding in his chest, Ethan got onto his knees and eventually meandered to his feet. He felt the warm sand trickle off his arms and neck.

"I got it!" Ash suddenly screamed, drawing Ethan's attention sharply. "I killed it!"

Ethan rolled his head over into her direction. There was no dead tonberry. Instead, the green monster was backing across the bridge and retreating from the trio. "You didn't kill it," Ethan moaned. "It's just leaving…"

"I definitely injured it!"

"Did you even hit it?!" Ethan scoffed. He immediately regretted it however. The confidence drained out of Ash's face and she looked to the ground. Honestly, he was within seconds of blacking out moments before and she saved him. Though his muscles still ached, especially his chest, and a headache was beginning to pulse through his head, Ethan softened. "I'm sorry, you did great…You did great…"

Ethan stumbled over to Ty to have a look at his leg. Ty definitely received the worst of the team's injuries. Blood continued to pump out of his leg, coloring the sand a dark burgundy, almost black. Ty moaned and writhed, pounding his fist in the ground. "I can't walk! Gahhhh, I can't walk!"

"Shh, shh…drink this," Ethan calmed, pushing a small green bottle into his hand. The potion would dull the pain, but he realized that Ty was right. The kid wouldn't be able to walk back to the ships. They would need to get a med unit or have somebody carry him back.

Shaking his head, Ethan realized the headache was getting worse. He also felt his breakfast begin to rise a bit in his stomach. Ty's injuries were gruesome, so he turned away from him, facing the direction they came. In truth, Ethan had quite enough adventuring today. They were lucky to survive the tonberry, more or less try to tackle this GF. With an already injured team, Ethan decided it would probably be best to just hang out here until the other troops started making their way back to Garden.

Closing his eyes, Ethan pictured the cool ocean breeze from his dorm room. Jostin would joke with him about failing the SeeD exam, sure, but he was young still. He could take the exam next year. Yes, that would mean another summer home, but he knew he wasn't cut out for this…not yet. Continuing his daydream, Ethan felt his soft sheets, his firm bed, and felt the fan turning lightly above him. He heard the other students conversing outside, the tweeting of birds, horse hooves?

Well that's queer, there weren't many horses at Garden. Ethan found himself back in the Centra desert, head throbbing and the rest of his body aching. He knew it was too good to be true. Ty and Ash had been silent for too long and it was quite strange for the tonberry to high-tail it away from them. Despite Ash's courage, he was still convinced that she didn't hit the damned thing with a single shot.

Ethan hesitated turning around to face this new terror. He was too tired. Too tired to keep fighting. Slowly, he turned to face the bridge. On the other side, a horned demon with a seven-foot sword rode a six-legged horse. Ethan's terror rose exponentially as his adrenaline began pumping. The exhaustion fled his body as he entered flight or fight mode.

Taking one step onto the wooden bridge, the GF beckoned to the group. Before anyone acted, Ash ran a scan on the monster.

NAME: Odin

HP: ?

WEAKNESS: None

DRAW: Stop, Death, Double, Triple

- A legendary GF that sleeps in a dungeon. Zantetsuken cuts anything that stands in its way.

"That was helpful," Ethan muttered to himself. He watched Ash again fumble with bullets. Ty laid motionless on the ground, making Ethan question whether he finally passed out from his wounds or whether he was playing possum.

Ash stepped behind him as she began to aim. Ethan moved in front of Ty as if to protect him. As if he was much protection… He re-tightened his gloves pulled on his shirt, which was stuck to his chest with an adhesive of sticky sweat and sand. Perspiration ran into his eyes and mouth, flooding the latter with a salty taste.

The GF seemed weakened. Odin's horse was trotting with a limp and he had a large cut on his arm. Regardless of his injuries, Odin took out his sword and pointed it at his challengers.

Surprisingly, Ash took the first shot. The bullet exploded out of her rifle and the sound resonated across the plain. To Ethan's utmost delight, it was dead on, and he anticipated blood.

With what seemed like a friendly hand gesture, Odin twirled his sword and deflected the bullet. In one swift motion, the GF kicked his horse in the side and began to charge.

Never did such a fear take over Ethan's body. Ifrit was a bit spooky, but the hell beast didn't have a seven foot sword. To tonberry paled in comparison to Odin, and Ethan half wished he would have just blacked out earlier. Perhaps Ty was the lucky one. As Odin charged across the bridge, Ethan gave up all notions of protecting him and ran as quickly as he could. He heard the hooves behind him but they diverted and paused.

As soon as Ethan noticed the hooves were not coming for him, he reared around to see Ash in a bad way. Grimacing, Ethan watched Ash collapse to the floor. He pushed the thoughts of ripped skin and an arc of blood out of his head. It was a downward slice, and Ethan saw her stiffen and crumble to the ground. If he couldn't see it, it didn't exist. Trying to wipe the sight fom his mind, Ethan suddenly saw how real this exercise could become. The dry air made it hard to breathe and all he could smell was dirt. Ash was on the ground. Ty was still unconscious in front of her. Ethan was nearly about to hide in some low brush. Odin wouldn't give up like the tonberry though. He clearly saw Ethan and began a slow trot towards him. Ethan wasn't sure what to do anymore. His brain told him he needed to keep fighting if he wanted to live. His heart told him to run. It told him to run as far away from that monster as he could possibly get. Ethan's legs were failing him, as he was torn between charging or retreating. There was no way he was outrunning the horse however. He could die a coward in the bush, or he could go out fighting.

Finding as much courage as he could muster, Ethan straightened himself and faced Odin and tried to make a quick judge of abilities. He saw his two biggest threats as avoiding getting trampled and that sword. It didn't look like Odin was casting any magic.

In two quick gallops, Odin was on top of him. Ethan knew what was coming though. He had seen the same slice come towards Ash. With a quick twirl of his wrist, Odin brought his sword slicing downwards.

Ethan dove forwards, sliding under the horse's legs. Sand crashed against his face and fell into his gritted mouth, making his teeth grainy. Rolling on his side, Ethan swung as hard as he could at the back legs. The horse trembled a bit, but did not fall as he anticipated. Instead, pain ran up his hand to his arm as the studs in his gloves bit into his knuckles.

Odin's horse screeched like a hybrid of a bat and an elephant. Clumsily, the horse backtrotted, hoping to trample the annoying cadet.

Ethan crawled on his arms behind the horse, spit the sand from his mouth, and prepared for the counter. He considered punching the horse in the rear, but wasn't sure what the would accomplish.

Odin quickly reared his horse to face the cadet. The ground shook and cracked under the weight of the horse as it brought its hooves down. A cloud of sand and dust covered the cadet. His sinuses filled with the grit and his eyes watered heavily. Ethan slowly found his feet and backed away from Odin. Fortunately, the GF merely stared him down instead of attempting another charge.

Ethan's adrenaline began to taper and his headache returned to him. A wave of dizziness and nausea spread from his stomach to his head. Ethan tripped over his own feet several times as he stumbled away from the GF. Suddenly, this fight seemed a bit foolish. The shredded body of Ash jumped to his mind and he could see something similar occuring. There was no way he was going to be able to take down the GF alone. Maybe if he just kept backing away…As he continued his mini-retreat, Ethan suddenly felt his legs get taken out from under him by what felt like a curb.

The cadet fell backwards a large lump. Surprisingly, it was squishy and he bounced off of it and fell back to the sandy ground. Shooting his glance sideways, Ethan recognized the "curb". His face went white and he felt his breakfast rise from his stomach. He had just rolled over Ash's bloody body. He could see the tear from her naval to her throat, still spewing blood and small white flecks of visible bone. Ash's eyes were blank and she still gripped her rifle. Looking down at himself, Ethan saw that his hand and his shirt were now covered in her blood. The vomit rose again; stronger this time, but he kept it down. As quick as he could, Ethan threw off his shirt and began to madly wipe his hand into the desert ground.

Odin saw the distraction and considered this a good point to try another offensive strike. The GF began a slow trot towards him. The two weren't more than ten feet apart, so there was no need for a full gallop.

As the shadow of Odin loomed over him, Ethan's disgust left him and he forced himself to refocus. Punches weren't working, so he needed another option. He quickly checked his pockets and found two potions, a rubber band, lint…nothing that seemed worthwhile

Odin stopped his advance when he was inches from the boy, he brought his sword into a low sideways slice. At the very least, he would cut off the cadet's legs. As he twirled his sword, he saw the boy drop a red glitter onto the pudgy cadet he had slain earlier. Before he could react, she shot back to life. As she sat up, her rifle misfired, far too close to him. Odin saw the flash and attempted to get his sword up in self-defense, but it was too late. The shot caused him to jerk backwards and almost fall off of his horse. The bullet nicked the tip of his horn, shattering the sharp point of it.

Seeing the distraction and his opportunity, Ethan lunged. He knew this was his one and only shot and he prayed it worked. Moving to the horse's head, Ethan took a swing at it's eye. His fingernails dug into his palm, as Ethan tightened his fist pushed it as far into the tissue as he could. His hand began twitching as more of his blood ran down his arm.

The results were immediate. Odin's horse whinnied and balanced onto its' hind legs. Between the bullet and the bucking horse, Odin was doing all he could to keep his balanace. Luckily, the GF grasped the reigns and steadied himself. While Odin was finding his balance, the horse took revenge of its own. In a second's time, the horse wheeled around and connected one of its hooves to Ethan's chest.

The air was pushed out of Ethan's lungs and he flew backwards, landing three feet away from Odin. The coppery taste of blood filled his mouth and he felt liquid in his lungs. One of them probably collapsed. Gently, he touched his ribs and a shot of pain made him cry out. A few of them were likely broken as well. While on his back, Ethan watched in horror as Odin simply stuck his monstrous sword into Ash and watched her crumple again to the ground. Ethan was on his own again. This time, he was out of ideas. He survived longer than the rest of his team at least. He could take solace in his effort.

Still struggling for breath, Ethan watched Odin's horse stumble clumsily towards him. The horse's eye was no longer visible, just swollen, bloody, tissue. With as much effort as he could muster, Ethan tried to sit up a bit and face the GF. He considered it more honorable to not go lying down. It was agony as he listened to the "clop, clop" of the approaching GF. The horse's steps resonated across the silent desert and slowly became louder as they approached Ethan. A hoof finally stopped next to his hip and he looked up the long silver sword of Odin. Sand settled in his hair and once again invaded his nose. Ethan bowed his head and prepared for the pain. He waited. And waited. And waited some more. It never came. Then he heard it.

"Squall! I found 'im!" Irvine said, motioning to Odin. "Let's finish him this time!"

"_We could've taken him if you could keep your cool and shoot accurately…"_ Squall thought, dropping his face into his hand. He lifted his gunblade and motioned to Odin. "Take a shot to distract, and I will finish him," the lion instructed. He slowly walked across the wooden bridge, not removing his eyes from Odin.

Ethan continued to struggle to breathe as he watched Squall Leonhart stare down Odin. An explosion fired from Irvine's gun, but just as before, Odin easily turned his gun to block. That was enough time for Squall to get into range however. The swordfight between the two of them was nothing short of masterful to Ethan. Sparks danced as Squall matched the GF slice for slice. Despite being quite smaller than the goliath of the GF, Squall eventually began to wear down Odin with his Lionhart. Odin was no longer on the offensive, but rather merely trying to block Squall's advance. Shots rang out of the gunblade, first crippling one of the horse's legs and then piercing Odin's left leg.

With one eye destroyed and a bullet shattered leg, Odin's horse began to collapse from under him. Squall pushed harder. His strikes came faster and harder, putting Odin greatly on the defensive. Now Odin was not even attempting to counter, but rather just protect himself. In a strong upper slice, Squall finally disarmed Odin's sword and it arced over his shoulder.

Ethan flinched as Odin's sword landed in his vicinity and slid next to his leg. Instinctively, the cadet picked up the legendary sword. It was incredibly heavy, and he could barely lift it off the ground. Engraved on the hilt was "Zantetsuken" and the sword gleaned under the moonlight. Suddenly the sword burned hot in his hands. Ethan was convinced his skin was melting and tried desperately to drop the sword. However, it wasn't his skin that was melting onto the sword, but rather, the sword melting into his skin. As the sword dissolved, Ethan felt the burning feeling spread from his hands up his arms and into his chest. He moaned in pain, and felt his body giving up on him. With a coppery taste in his mouth and Ash's blood all over his hands, Ethan slowly slid to the ground. Despite the pain, the cadet felt warm and comfortable. He slowly closed his eyes and let the warmth engulf him.

_"Very well. I will join you."_

(0000000000)

The rain had finally stopped in Balamb, but Seifer didn't take off his hood. Row after row of SeeD cadets passed him by on their way back to Balamb. He saw the uneasiness in Chicken Wuss's eyes. Dincht never liked him much. But now was the time. He was sure of it. Squall was going to ask him to come back to Garden. Surely someone of his stature, his ability, would not be denied a job in Garden.

Squall passed, made eye contact, but did not say a word.

_"Another talk wouldn't hurt,"_ Seifer though. _"He'll see my way this time."_

(0000000000)


End file.
